Zyzzyva - The last word in word study. Look up a word to see if it's acceptable or unacceptable in tournament play. Learn the meaning of a word. Is it a adjective, verb, noun or adverb? Can it be pluralized?

Due to the efforts of Rebecca Slivka, Director of the Seattle Club, as well as others, NASPA's new bulletin now states that the following new 2019 Scrabble words will go into effect on March 1, 2019.

(Stay tuned for any further changes to this proposed schedule!)

The following list of new 2019 words was compiled

by Harry Decker from the Phoenix Scrabble Club.

Yowza! 300 new words added to Scrabble dictionary!

The Guardian, Mon 24 Sep 2018

(These words will not be acceptable at Scrabble Club #276 or in tournament play until sometime during 2019!)

Scrabble players will have to
rethink their game after new words, including OK and EW, added to approved list

More than 300 new words, including
bizjet and arancini have been added to the the Official Scrabble Players
Dictionary.

Three hundred new words have been
added to the official US Scrabble dictionary, including sriracha, aquafaba,
beatdown, zomboid, twerk, sheeple, wayback, bibimbap, botnet, emoji, facepalm,
frowny, hivemind, puggle and yowza.

Merriam-Webster released the sixth
edition of the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary on Monday, four years after
the last version.

Included in the new edition are some
long-awaited two letter words, notably OK and ew.

“OK is something Scrabble players
have been waiting for, for a long time,” said lexicographer Peter Sokolowski,
editor at large at Merriam-Webster. “Basically two- and three-letter words are
the lifeblood of the game.”

There’s more good news for Scrabble
players with the addition of qapik, a unit of currency in Azerbaijan, adding to
an arsenal of 20 playable words beginning with q that don’t need a u.

“Every time there’s a word with q
and no u, it’s a big deal,” Sokolowski said. “Most of these are obscure.”

Yowza is one of the new words added
to the official dictionary.

There are some high scorers now
eligible for play, including bizjet, meaning a small plane used for business,
which, if played as a plural – bizjets – as an opening gambit, would be worth a
whopping 120 points due to the 50-point bonus for using all seven tiles and the
double word bonus space usually played at the start. There are also words that
will be great for getting rid of unwanted vowels, like arancini, those Italian
balls of cooked rice.

The Massachusetts-based dictionary
company sought counsel from the North American Scrabble Players Association
when updating the book, Sokolowski said, “to make sure that they agree

Sokolowski has a favorite among the
new words but not, primarily, because of Scrabble scores. “It’s macaron,” he
said, referring to the delicate French biscuit.

“I just like what it means,” he
said.

Merriam-Webster put out the first
official Scrabble dictionary in 1976. Before that, the game’s rules called for
any desk dictionary to be consulted. Since an official dictionary was created,
it has been updated every four to eight years.

There’s often chatter around
Scrabble boards over which foreign words have been accepted into English to the
degree they’re playable. In this new dictionary, schneid, a word with German
roots that refers to a losing streak, as well as bibimbap, cotija and sriracha
have all been added.

Scrabble
was first trademarked as such in 1948, after it was thought up under a
different name in 1933 by Alfred Mosher Butts, an out-of-work architect in
Poughkeepsie, New York. Interest in the game picked up in the early 1950s,
according to legend, when the president of Macy’s happened upon it while on
vacation.

Below are some of the new 300 words that have been added to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary.

Please remember...These words will not be acceptable at Scrabble Club #276 or in tournament play until sometime during 2019!

AQUAFABA: The liquid that results when
beans are cooked in water. Aquafaba is used especially in vegan cooking as an
egg white substitute.

BOTNET: A network of
computers that have been linked together by malware, hacking, etc. First used
in 2003, according to Merriam-Webster; we’ve been bedeviled for quite a while
now.

CAPTCHA: The
computer security technology requiring Web page visitors to look at one or more
pictures and answer a question to prove that they’re human and not computer
bots. When you fill out The Style Invitational’s entry form, such as this
week’s, you’re likely to be asked to check off which of nine photos
contain a picture of a vehicle, etc. And yes, of course, the bots are
figuring it out.

CAPCOM: Capsule
communicator, the person responsible for communicating via radio with the crew
of a space mission. The government luvvvs portmanteaux.

CHYRON: Pronounced
“ky-ron,” it’s the caption that runs under video clips, as on the news, and
named for a 1970s manufacturer.

CONLANG: Constructed
+ language, a language that’s purposely invented, such as Esperanto or Klingon,
rather than one that develops organically. My guess is that conlangs tend to
have a lot of portmanteau words, like conlang.

COTIJA: A hard,
white, crumbly Mexican cheese, described as resembling a cross between
feta and parmesan. It doesn’t melt.

EMOJI: Well, you
know what that is. But did you know that the name doesn’t come from “emotion,”
as “emoticon” does? According to M-W, it’s a Japanese portmanteau: “e” for
“picture”; “moji” for “letter” or “character.” Also, it says, the plural may be
either emoji or emojis.

EW: Non-tournament
Scrabble players are surely not turning up their noses at this immensely
helpful addition to the two-letter-word list.

EXOME: Pronounced
EX-ome, it’s another portmanteau, exon + genome. The
exome is the portion of the genome known to encode proteins; sequencing the
exome rather than the entire genome is less costly but still yields useful
data.

FACEPALM: A noun or a
verb referring to covering your face in dismay.

FARRO: A large-grained
kind of wheat that is nutritious and delicious. (You may notice that I
seem to find every kind of food delicious. This is not quite true: I can’t
learn to like Asian bitter melon, and, well, Peeps and candy corn aren’t food,
so they don’t count.)

FROWNY: M-W lists
it as a noun as well as an adjective. So: Does it really take more muscles to
frown than to smile, as your aunt’s favorite chain email insists? Snopes
determines it “unproven,” but does supply an amusing variety of muscle
counts.

GAMIFY: It
does not mean to make something smell like roadkill;
it’s adding games to training programs to make them more interesting and
understandable. Gamification is the noun.

HIVEMIND: The
one-word variant of hive mind, “the
collective thoughts, ideas, and opinions of a group of people (such as Internet
users) regarded as functioning together as a single mind,” as a hive of bees
does. I wouldn’t say the Loser Community is “a single mind,” opinion-wise, but
it’s a heck of a collective repository of knowledge and source of wit.

JUDGY: Pejorative
for the already-by-now pejorative judgmental.

LISTICLE: List + article, an “information” format
popular with those who tend not to read two paragraphs in a row.

MACARON: A little
French meringue sandwich cookie. It is, needless to say, delicious. Not the
same as macaroon or Macron.

MULLOWAY: “A large,
silvery fish (Argyrosomus japonicus synonym A.
hololepidotus) of chiefly coastal waters from Africa to
Australia that is valued as a food and sport fish. I have never had this fish,
but I am sure that it is delicious.

NUTJOB: Choose your
own example.

NUBBER: In
baseball, a weakly hit grounder.

OK: Added for
the two-letter spelling. M-W dates it back to 1839, and says it was a
joke-spelling abbreviation for “all correct.”

ONBOARD: As an
adjective, describing what’s carried in a vehicle, etc. Huh, I see that M-W
does not yet acknowledge its corporate-speak use as a verb: to introduce and
integrate a new employee into the workforce. Nor does it say it’s an adverb, as
in “the new passengers came onboard.” I guess aboard still
lives.

PAPASAN: A
bowl-shaped chair on a cylindrical base, usually wicker or rattan. What you get at
Pier 1.

PIZZAZZ: That fourth
Z adds that much more ... flair and panache!

PUGGLE: Pug x
beagle, yet another portmanteau crossbreed.

ROOTKIT: A malicious
piece of software that grants a remote operator complete access to a computer
system.

SANTOKU: A Japanese
chef’s knife whose top curves downward at the tip.

SCHNEID: A losing
streak. It derives in some complicated way from a German idiom for tailor that was used in card games.

SHEEPLE: “People who
are docile, compliant, or easily influenced : people likened to sheep.”

SHO: An archaic
monetary unit once used in Tibet — and surely included now only to provide a
strategically useful three-letter Scrabble word.

SRIRACHA: Now-ubiquitous red
hot sauce (not a trademark!). It is delicious but not my favorite red hot
sauce, which is this.

SUBSTORM: A localized
disturbance of the earth’s magnetic field in high latitudes, typically
manifested as an aurora.

TRUTHER: M-W defines
it as “one who believes that the truth about an important subject or event is
being concealed from the public by a powerful conspiracy.” In actual use, it’s
a disparaging term to describe someone who’s taken in by crackpot claims and
theories.

TWERK: Twerking:
Sexually suggestive dancing characterized by rapid, repeated hip thrusts and
shaking of the buttocks especially while squatting. First known use: 2001. So
think of all the years when the word existed but you didn’t have to read about it. But have you tried
doing it?

UPCYCLE: To recycle into a
product more valuable than the original, as to make expensive shoes from
plastic bags.

VAPE: To inhale an
electronic cigarette.

WAYBACK: The area in the
very back of a van or SUV, the equivalent of the trunk of a sedan.

YOWZA: Interjection “used
to express surprise or amazement.”

ZEN: A Buddhist sect,
or, lowercase, “a state of calm attentiveness in which one’s actions are guided
by intuition rather than by conscious effort.” Another long-overdue and direly
needed addition to the three-letter Scrabble list. Not to mention the list of
Z-words.

ZOMBOID: The adjectival form
of zombie. While the zomboid form of adjective would
be aaaaaad-jehhhhhhhc-tivvvvvvvve.

============================================

I have been directing our club since 1986 – that’s 32 years and I put a lot of time, effort and love into making this a fun and competitive club! And although our club is so much a part of me I realized that some New Rules had to go into effect IMMEDIATELY for me to continue as your director!

1. GETTING TO CLUB ON TIME!

Starting immediately, Game 1 will begin at 5:50 PM!

Therefore, I suggest that you get to club no later than 5:45 PM. At 6:45 PM, the song "Rocky's Theme" will play which will announce the IMMEDIATE end of your game no matter whose turn it is. Pens down. It's OVER! Your score sheets will be given to me at once so that we can be paired for our next game.

Game 2 will then begin at 6:50 PM with the alarm sounding at 7:45 PM.

Game 3 will begin at 7:50 PM and the final alarm will go off at 8:45 PM.

We will be out of Veterans Park before 9:00 PM so that Evelyn, the recreation center worker, doesn't have to wait for us anymore and can close the recreation center when she is supposed to!

Let me explain this a little bit more….

I don’t care if there are only a few people here at 5:45 PM. First come, first served. When you come in you will be paired with the person who came in right before you. If there is an odd number of people, you will have to wait until someone else comes in and that is whom you will play…..and so on. If you feel like you won’t have enough time to play a game that will end when the alarm sounds, you can choose not to play that game and wait for the next game to begin (but the full night’s fee will be paid). If you end up sitting out because you were the last one in after 5:45 PM, this will not count as a “sit out” on my list. If you are not happy with this, you are certainly free to leave. If we are still odd after the first game, I will then use the sit-out list for the next two games.

2. COMPLAINTS

This one is simple….I just don’t want to hear any more of them!

3. TEMPERATURE OF ROOM

If you have a problem with a hot room, please call the Rec Center earlier in the day of club to make sure that the air conditioning is working that night. If you can't deal with having just the two fans that night, please stay home in the comfort of your own air-conditioned place.

The Veterans Park phone number is 954-572-1459.

4. MATCH-UPS

Don't tell me that you don't want to be matched up with any specific person. It's not going to happen! We try to randomly match up the first game so whomever you are randomly matched up with, you will play. Sometimes you might be matched up randomly with the same person a few weeks in a row. That's life.

5. TALKING

When I am making announcements, I expect all the talking to stop so that I can be heard and we can get on with our games. This also comes under the heading of "Common Courtesy, Consideration & Good Manners."

6. SCORE SHEETS

Every week I get score sheets without names of opponents, without names of opponents, without bingos listed and many other errors. From now on I will just enter what is there.

I think we can still have a fun club even with these new rules. All you have to do is come here earlier and have some consideration for me when I am talking and not complain about things.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the players who have attended our club since these New Rules have gone into effect. I am happy to say that there has been a lot of understanding and agreement with these new rules from our attending members. Not only does our club run much smoother now but we are also able to leave in plenty of time before the recreation center closes!

*****************************************************************

SCRABBLE CLUB #276

CELEBRATED ITS

29TH ANNUAL SCRABBLE AWARDS NIGHT ON JANUARY 10, 2018

On January 10, twenty-five of our Scrabble Club members congregated at their meeting place in Veterans Park, Lauderhill,
Florida to attend our 29th Annual
Awards Night and to cheer on their fellow players as numerous awards were
presented!

As is her yearly tradition, DENA WEINSTEIN sent in some of her delicious home-baked goodies - this year we were treated to yummy cupcakes - for our 29th Annual Scrabble Awards night!

In addition, SALLY SCALZO baked mouth-watering brownies full of chocolate morsels which were incredible!!! And in between preparing for Awards Night, your director (moi) even baked a few dozen chocolate chip cookies! So we had plenty of treats to enjoy during the evening.

Many gifts of appreciation were presented to some of our members who help in different ways during the year and for our Annual Scrabble Club Awards night.

CHERYL LEVIN, for opening her office on Sunday late afternoon so that I can make copies of the final stats as soon as they are completed to hand out to all of our club members at Awards Night.

LARRY
GRADUSfor being such a helpful Assistant Director! With your assistance it makes it so much easier to run the club smoothly while still finishing in time to meet the Veterans Park's closing time of 9:00 PM.

HOWARD PISTOL, who immediately fills in whenever needed and is very helpful during the weeks when Larry is late or unable to attend.

And this year, TERESA SCHAEFFER who took the lion's share of the photos during our 29th Awards Night!

In addition, gifts were given to EVELYN and JOY, the wonderful ladies at Veterans Park, who are so pleasant and helpful to us each week...even when we are a sometimes a little late leaving.

After I expressed all of my thanks and appreciation,SHEREEN
WEINSTEINtook the floor and on behalf of the Scrabble Club #276
saidsome lovely words and presented me with a gift of their appreciation. I
can't even begin to tellyou how good it makes me feel when I read the names of the contributors on the gift card which shows me how much they appreciate all the hard work that goes into making our club such a fun place to attend all year long!

I would like to take this opportunity to thank some of our club members who bring in snacks throughout the year on a regular basis--JEFF GARRETT, JED MARTINEZ,SALLYSCALZO, TERESA SCHAEFFER, MICKEY & DIANNE KAPLAN, and DENA WEINSTEIN.

LET THE SCRABBLE AWARDS CEREMONYBEGIN!

Congratulations to all of our

2017 winners

in the following categories:

2017
MOST IMPROVED PLAYER

SALLY SCALZO

8.16%!!!

L-R: Gerry Smith, John Thomason, Sally Scalzo

2nd Place - JOHN THOMASON - 7.06%3rd Place - GERRY SMITH - 5.61%

And while we are on the subject of "Improvement," two 2017 PERSEVERANCE Awards (otherwise known as the "I THINK I CAN, I KNEW I COULD" awards) were presented to JED MARTINEZ and FRED WEINSTEIN who regularly attend week after week and keep plugging away whether they win or lose...and guess what? Both of them have improved tremendously since they first attended our club!!!

2017 PERSEVERANCE AWARDS

L-R: Fred Weinstein, Jed Martinez

2017 HIGHEST SCORING WORD

ROBERT KAHN "TETANIZE" - 203 Pts!

(Definition: "To affect with convulsions")

Sinc

e ROBERT KAHN was not in attendance at our 29th Scrabble Awards Night, his special prize T-Shirt (which is only aw

arded "once in a blue moon" whenever a wor

d over 200 points is scored) plus his award certificate was displayed by me.

L-R: Howard Pistol, Gerry Smith

2nd Place for 158 Points

GERRY SMITH - "WARTIEST"

3rd Place Tie with HIMSELF for 149 Points:

HOWARD PISTOL - "RELIEVOS" & "POLESTAR"

During 2017 there
were 64
Bamdingers* scored (with 4 being phonies)!

*A "Bamdinger" is one word that scores 100
points or more!

A total of 24 Scrabble players who played at our club during 2017 earned Bamdinger Certificates.

Every year I award a cash prize to the first player who scores the first Bamdinger

in the new year

. Sometimes this might take a few weeks, but on the first night that we were in session, January 3, 2018, JOHN THOMASONdidn't waste any time and in the evening's first game scored the first "bamdinger" of the year when he played "AQUAVITS" for 119 points against his opponent, Gerry Smith. The definition of "AQUAVITS" is "a Scandinavian liquor."

Congratulations
to all our members who received awards and thank you to our entire
membership who help to make our Scrabble club such a fun, interesting
and competitively challenging place to be every Wednesday night!

As is my
custom, along with the packet of club stats and individual stats, I give
a gift to all of our Scrabble Club players who have attended our club a
number of times during the year.

This year I've decided to help every member at our club win many of their games during 2018 with "Good Picks" Hand Sanitizer.

Here's looking forward to another fun year at our
Scrabble Club and wishing everyone a very happy and healthy 2018!

============================

Click on this linkClub News Pageto see what has been happening at Scrabble Club 276 during the months of October 2017 through December 2017!

=========================

As of April 1, 2015 we have been officially using the new words at Scrabble Club 276!

If you would like to print out the newest 2-3 letter "Cheat Sheet" which has all the new additions in red font, please click the following link.